Automatic tail cutter

ABSTRACT

An automatic tail cutter for rapidly cutting paper, plastic, aluminum, or other material exiting from a machine for producing the material in a continuous strip or sheet, the tail cutter having a knife blade which is pivotably mounted on a carriage. The carriage is slidably mounted for movement by a fluid actuated drive means along a guide track positioned transversely of the direction of movement of the strip of paper. The carriage is connected to a chain drive mechanism contained within a housing on which the guide track is mounted, the chain drive mechanism being powered by a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The rate of movement of the knife carriage is determined by the relative diameters of the chain sprockets of the chain drive mechanism and the rate of movement of the piston and piston rod relative to the cylinder of the fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The housing and guide track are mounted for vertical movement relative to the plane of the paper strip by a parallelogram linkage, with vertical movement of the housing being obtained by a fluid actuated support means including a second fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The supply of fluid pressure to both fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assemblies is controlled by means of an automatic electrical control circuit to cut the continuous sheet of material for winding into separate rolls.

United States Patent [1 1 LaLonde et al.

[ AUTOMATIC TAIL CUTTER [75] Inventors: Earl E. LaLonde; Gerald D.Bartels,

both of Missoula, Mont.

[73] Assignee: Industrial Research & Engineering,

Inc., Portland, Oreg.

[22] Filed: May 3, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 249,980

Campbell, Leigh, Hall & Whinston [57] ABSTRACT An automatic tail cutterfor rapidly cutting paper,

[ Apr. 23, 1974 plastic, aluminum, or other material exiting from amachine for producing the material in a continuous strip or sheet, thetail cutter having a knife blade which is pivotably mounted on acarriage. The carriage is slidably mounted for movement by a fluidactuated drive means along a guide track positioned transversely of thedirection of movement of the strip of paper. The carriage is connectedto a chain drive mechanism contained within a housing on which the guidetrack is mounted, the chain drive mechanism being powered by a fluidpressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The rate of movement ofthe knife carriage is determined by the relative diameters of the chainsprockets of the chain drive mechanism and the rate of movement of thepiston and piston rod relative to the cylinder of the fluid pressureoperated piston and cylinder assembly. The housing and guide track aremounted for vertical movement relative to the plane of the paper stripby a parallelogram linkage, with vertical movement of the housing beingobtained by a fluid actuated support means including a second fluidpressure operated piston and cylinder assembly. The supply of fluidpressure to both fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembliesis controlled by means of an automatic electrical control circuit to cutthe continuous sheet of material for winding into separate rolls.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FATENTEDAPR 2 IBM 3805652 SHEET 1 OF 2 1AUTOMATIC TAIL CUTTER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates to automatic cutter apparatus forcutting a moving strip of sheet material, such as a tail cutter forcutting paper, plastics, aluminum, or other material which exits from amachine for producing the material in a continuous sheet form and iswound onto spools. More particularly, the invention is an automaticallycontrolled high speed paper tail cutter adaptable for use with any widthof material to be cut.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the paper industry, particularly inthe paper manufacturing industry, the completed paper exits from a papermaking machine as a continuous strip or sheet. The continuous strip iswound into rolls on a rotating spool, with the completed roll havingdiameters of approximately 7 feet.

Following the completion of the winding of a roll of paper, it isnecessary to cut the continuous sheet of paper remove the completed rollfrom the support members, and start the winding of the severed end ofthe continuous sheet onto a new spool. These steps must be carried outrapidly, since the paper continues to exit from the paper machine. Thisoperation is carried out in the conventional manner by having a workermanually drive a knife through the continuous sheet near one edgethereof and maintain the knife in this position, thus resulting in theformation of a long narrow strip of paper, or a tail between successiverolls. This tail is severed from the preceding roll by any desiredmethod, such as by air pressure or by application of water, andsubstantially simultaneously placed around an empty spool, by a secondworker. Immediately upon the placing of the tail around theempty spool,the first worker is requiredto rapidly pull the knife across theremaining width of the sheet of paper. This operation results in aconsiderable amount of wasted paper, due to the fact that the operationmust be carried out manually. Also, the winding of the tail upon one endofa new roll while the cutting operation is being carried out results ina large bulge being formed at one end of the roll, thereby causingwrinkles in the rolled paper. Furthermore, the manual movement of theknife across the width of the paper is a very hazardous job, due to thefact that the paper strip is continually moving and is very heavy.

Although various power actuated cutting means have been proposed, noneof these cutting means solves the problem of coordinating the varioussteps required to sever the strip of paper from the preceding roll andinitiate the winding onto a new spool. The prior art power driven papercutters are rigidly mounted generally transversely of the path of papertravel and cut the strip of paper completely across its width withoutforming a tail. Furthermore, most of the prior art paper cutting devicescut the continuous paper strip on an angle, to compensate for thecontinuous motion of the paper strip in an effort to reduce waste of theinitial layers wound onto a new spool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatictail cutter which utilizes a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinderassembly to drive a cutting knife at high speed along a track positionedtransversely to the path of movement of a continuous strip of material.

The structure of the subject invention eliminates the requirement ofmanually cutting the continuous strip of material by automaticallymoving a blade guide track transversely relative to the plane of thestrip to insert a cutting knife blade through the paper and thenactuating a fluid pressure operated piston and cylinder assembly to movethe knife rapidly across the width of the strip, thereby reducing thehazard of an unsafe condition which exists to a worker manually severingthe strip. I

Specifically, the present invention utilizes an automatic electricalcontrol system for energizing electric solenoid valves for selectivelycontrolling the application of fluid pressure to a first fluid pressureoperated piston and cylinder assembly for raising the cutting assemblyin a vertical direction to drive a cutting knife through the continuousstrip ofmaterial at the desired point and to a second fluid pressureoperated piston and cylinder assembly for moving a cutter blade at highspeed across the width of the sheet. A chain drive arrangement greatlyincreases the speed of the cutting knife relative to the movement of theconnecting rod of the second piston and cylinder assembly. The guidetrack of the cutter knife is maintained in parallel relationship to theplane of the sheet at all times by a parallelogram support linkage.

By utilizing the structure of the present invention, material, such asplastic, aluminum foil, or paper having a wide range of weight andwidths may be cut by merely adjusting the control system, therebyeliminating the requirement of having an additional operator manuallyperform the hazardous job of inserting a cutting knife through thematerial and cutting the material. Furthermore, the invention eliminatesthe need for separate cutter assemblies to be used for strips havingdifferent widths and weights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a vertical side view of thepresent invention assembled on atypical paper manufacturing machine,showing the relative relationship with the paper-and paper roll;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tail cutter assembly according tothe present invention and the mounting arrangement for attachment to apaper machine;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view of the cutter ofFIG. 2 showing the internal arrangement of the cutter drive mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the pneumatic actuating system for thepresent invention, including the constructional details of theair-over-oil drive piston and cylinder assembly; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control system foroperating the automatic paper tail cutter according to the presentinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Although the present inventionmay be use for cuting any type of material produced in a continuousstrip, the construction of the preferred embodiment will be described asused in the environment of the paper manufacturing industry.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the automatic tail cutter assembly 20,according to the present invention, is mounted on the output side of atypical paper making machine by a mounting means including aparallelogram mounting linkage 31, which allows the cutter as-' semblyto be moved vertically toward and away from the plane of the strip ofpaper 12 exiting from the paper machine 10. The vertical position of thecutter assembly 20 is controlled by a fluid pressure actuated supportmeans including a pneumatically actuated piston and cylinder assembly54. The paper strip 12 passes out-of the machine 10 under a guide roll17 and is wound onto a paper roll 14 formed on a spool 16, having adiameter of approximately 12 inches. The continuous paper strip 12 ispressed onto the roll 14 by means of a pressure roll 18, to maintaincompression of the paper on the spool 16. A completed paper roll 14formed on a spool 16 is moved away from the winding portion, as seen inFIG. 1, for removal to a storage area.

The construction of the paper tail cutter assembly 20 and its mountinglinkage 31 will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and3 of the drawings. The paper tail. cutter assembly 20 has an elongatedhousing 22 of a generally rectangular configuration longitudinally andtransversely as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The housing 22 is formed withmounting brackets 23 and-24 located at each end thereof. The mountingbrackets 23 and 24 may be permanently attached to the side of thehousing 22 by any suitable means, such as by bolting or by welding, ormay be of a U- shaped configuration within which the housing 22 restsand is removably supported, if desired. The top surface of the housing22 has a slot 25 formed therein along its length which forms a guidetrack for guiding the movement of a paper cutter knife blade 26. Thecutter knife 26 is mounted on a knife holder 28, which, in turn, ispivotably mounted on a knife carriage 30. The knife carriage 30 is movedalong the guide track or slot 25 by a fluid pressure actuated drivemeans hereafter described. If desired, the knife carriage 30 may beprovided with anti-friction means, such as rollers, mounted in avertical position for rolling engagement with the sides of the guidetrack 25 to reduce friction therebetween, although not specificallyshown in the drawings.

The specific driving mechanism for moving the knife carriage 30 and, inturn, the cutter knife blade 26 along the track 25 in transverserelationahip to the path of movement of the paper strip 12 isaccomplished by means of a stepped chain drive mechanism, shown indetail in FIG. 3. A chain passes around sprocket wheels 41 and 42rotatably mounted at each end of the housing 22 on shafts 43 and 44,respectively, and is connected to the knife carriage 30 by any suitablemeans, such as by pivotably securing each end of the housing 22. Thelength of the chain 40 depends on the width of the paper machine and,accordingly, the overall length of the cutter housing 22.

One of the large diameter drive sprockets 41 has a small diametersprocket 45 mounted coaxially therewith on the same shaft 43 for commonrotation about shaft 43. The sprockets 41 and 45 are drivingly connectedtogether by any suitable means. For example, the sprockets 41 and 45 maybe either connected directly with each other and rotatable on shaft43'by means of bearings, 0r secured to the shaft 43, which in turn, maybe rotatably mounted on bearings in the housing 22. A second drive chain46 passes around the small diameter sprocket 45 and another sprocket 47rotatably mounted in housing 22 on a shaft 49. The diameter of thesprocket 47 is larger than the diameter of the sprocket 45. As with thesprockets 41 and 45, a second sprocket 48 is mounted on shaft 49 and isdrivingly connected with sprocket 47 for rotation therewith. Thisdriving connection between sprockets 47 and 48 may be accomplished inthe same manner as the driving connection between sprockets 41 and 45.The diameter of the sprocket 48 is less than the diameter of sprocket47. A third drive chain passes around the small diameter sprocket 48 anda sixth sprocket 51, rotatably mounted in housing 22 on a fourth shaft52.

The chains 40, 46 and 50 are rotatably driven around their respectivesprockets by means of an air-over-oil double piston and cylinderassembly 60, and chain 40, in turn, drives the knife carriage 30 andknife blade 26 along the guide track 25 of the housing 22. Theairover-oil double piston and cylinder assembly has a cylinder 62 whichis sub-divided into two separate chambers 63 and 65, with pistons 64 and66 being sealingly slidable within the chambers 63 and 65, respectively.Each of the pistons 64 and 66 are secured to a piston rod 67 extendingoutwardly from one end of the cylinder 62. The outermost end of thepiston rod 67 is connected to the third chain 50 for rotationallydriving the small diameter sprocket 48, which in turn, rotates thelarger diameter sprocket 47 to drive thefirst chain 40 passing aroundthe large diameter sprocket 41 and connected to knife carriage 30.

The diameters of the sprockets 51, 45, 47 and 48 are selected to providethe desired rate and distance of travel of the knife carriage 30 andknife blade 26 in response to the stroke of piston 66 and piston rod 67.By selecting the relative diameters of the sprockets in the mannerillustrated in the drawings, a very rapid rate of movement of the knifeblade 26 along the entire length of the housing 22 may be obtained by ashort movement of the piston rod 67 upon the application ofpneumaticpressure thereto. i

As shown in FIG. 3 and more particularly in FIG. 4, the air-over-oildouble piston and cylinder assembly 60 includes a double chambercylinder 62 having a first chamber 63 and a second chamber 65, with eachof these chambers having a piston 64 and 66 slidably contained therein,respectively. The first chamber 63 is selectively connected to apneumatic pressure supply source through conduit 86 to drive thecarriage 30 and cutter knife 26 along the track 25 to the left in FIG. 3to cut the paper strip 12. Pneumatic pressure is supplied to conduit87to return the carriage 30 and knife 28 to the starting, or right-handposition, inFIG. 3.

The second chamber is filled with oil, with opposite ends of the chamber65 being connected with each other by conduit means 72 and a flowcontrol system consisting of a manually operated flow adjusting valvemeans 73 and a one-way check valve means 74, shown only schematically inFIG. 3. The oil-filled second chamber 65 and piston 66, in conjunctionwith valve means 7'3 and 74, form a speed regulating system for thecutter knife 26, as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the first chamber 63 of the air-over-oil pistonand cylinder assembly 60 has the space on the left-hand side of thepiston 64 connected to a source of pneumatic pressure in conduit 90 by aconduit 86 connected to port 70 through a first threeway solenoid valve100, while the space on the righthand side of piston 64 is connected tothe supply conduit 90 through a second three-way solenoid valve 101 andconduit 87, connected to port 71. Both of the solenoid valves 100 and101 are of the three-way type which will connect the supply sourceconduit 90 with conduits 86 and 87, respectively, when the solenoids ofthe valves 100.and 101 are energized and will block communication ofpneumatic pressure supply conduit 90.with the conduits 86 and 87 whenthe solenoids are de-energized, with the conduits 86 and 87 beingexhausted to ambient atmosphere. By selectively controlling theenergization and de-energization of the solenoids of the three-wayvalves 100 and 101, the direction of movement of the piston 64 andconnecting rod 67 and, accordingly, the driving of the knife carrier 30and cutter blade 26, may be controlled.

As shown in detail in FIG. 4, the manually operated flow adjusting valvemeans 73 of FIG. 3 consists of two manually operated valves 79 and 80connected in separate passages of the conduit means 72. The one-waycheck valve means 74 of FIG. 3 includes first and second one-way checkvalves 77 and 78 for allowing flow in opposite directions through thetwo passages of the conduit means 72. Each of the one-way check valves77 and 78 are used in conjunction with the manually operated valves 79and 80 respectively, to control the flow through each of the passages ofthe hydraulic conduit means 72 connecting ports 75 and 76 located atopposite ends of the second chamber 65. By using this arrangement ofone-way check valves and manually operated flow control valves, thespeed at which the connecting rod 67 travels may be controlled byadjusting the manual valves 79 and 80 to allow a pre-set fluid flow fromone side of the piston 66 to the other. If rapid movement of the knifeblade 26 in the cutting direction is desired, with a slow return speed,the manual valve 79 may be opened to allow maximum flow therethroughfrom the right side of piston 66 to the left side thereof, as seen inFIG. 4, with one-way .check valve 77 opening to allow flow in theprescribed direction. The manually adjustable valve 80 may be adjustedto obtain a predetermined restricted fluid flow from the left-handsideof piston 66 to the right-hand side thereof on the return stroke ofthe piston rod 67, with the one-way check valve 78 being opened to allowrestricted flow in the return direction, while check valve 77 is closedto block flow through the open valve 79.

A two-way electrically controlled solenoid valve 102 is connected in theconduit which allows flow from port 76 to port 75, for obtaining ahydraulic braking action of the cutter blade 26 and carriage 30 as willbe explained in detail hereinafter.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the paper tail cutter assembly 20 issupported on the paper machine for vertical movement by means of aparallelogram mounting linkage 31, with the vertical positioning beingcarried out by means of a pneumatically actuated piston and cylinderassembly 54 mounted between the cutter assembly 20 and a support base orthe floor. The parallelogram mounting linkage 31 has a pair of mountingbrackets 32 and 33 which are attached to the frame of the paper machine10. Two supporting connecting bars 34 and 35 extend horizontally betweenthe mounting parallel connecting links, 36 and 37 on the left end and 38and 39 on the right end, are pivotablyconnected between each mountingbracket 23 and 24 on the tail cutter housing 22 and the horizontalsupporting bars 34 and 35 adjacent each mounting bracket 32 and 33. Byusing such a parallelogram supporting linkage, the paper tail cutterassembly 20 is maintained in a vertical position at all times regardlessof the height to which it is adjusted by means of the pneumatic pistonand cylinder assembly 54.

The pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54 for adjusting the verticalposition of the paper tail cutter assembly 20 includes a cylinder 55which is secured to a base or to the floor by means of a mounting plate56. A piston connecting rod 57 extends out of the opposite end of thecylinder andhas its external end attached to the bottom of the tailcutter assembly 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54for adjusting the vertical position of the paper tail cutter assembly 20includes a piston 58 slidably contained with the cylinder 55 andconnected to the end of the piston rod 57 extending into the interior ofthe cylinder 55. The cylinder 55 has a port 82 located on the bottom endthereof which is connectedto the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 byconduit 83 through a solenoid'operated three-way valve 103. A secondport 84 in cylinder 55 connects the opposite side of piston 58 with theambient atmosphere.

If desired, a pressure relief valve 88 may be connected in the pneumaticpressure supply line 90 to regulate the pressure supplied to conduits83, 86 and 87 through the three-way solenoid valves 103, 100 and 101,respectively, although the use of such a valve located in the positionshown in FIG. 4 is optional. In addition to the optional pressure reliefvalve 88, a manually adjustable shut-off valve 104 is shown as beingconnected in conduit 87 between the solenoid operated three-way valve101 and the pneumatic pressure supply line 90 for adjusting the flow ofpneumatic pressure to the piston return port 71 for providing anadditional brackets 32 and 33, as seen in FIG. 2. Two equal lengthcontrol for adjusting the rate of return of the cutter knife 26, sincethe return speed of the cutter knife 26 is considerably less than thecutting speed of the knife.

The electrical circuit of FIG. 5 shows solenoid coils a, 101a, 102a and103a for actuating solenoid valves 100, 101, 102 and 103, respectively,relay coils 119, 123, 141 and 142, and their respective normally I openrelay contacts 119a and 119b, 123a and 123b, 141a, and 142a,respectively. An optional set of normally closed relay contacts l23c maybe provided on the relay 123 for controlling solenoid a of a solenoidvalve (not shown) to control the supply of water to an optional waterspray system to be described hereinafter. The electrical control circuitalso includes manual switches 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 121, 122, 136,optional water control switch 152, and automatically actuated switches130, 132, and 134. The switches 114 and 116, 118, 121 and 122 are of thepust-button type for momentary actuation only. These switches are notheld in position, but are merely pressed once to energize the coil ofthe corresponding relay and when released, return to the position shownin FIG. 5. An optional electrically disengaged brake 140, which isoperatively connected to the chain drive mechanism, is also connectedinto the electrical control circuit and is disengaged by energization ofrelay coils 141 and 142, which'close contacts 141a and 142a,respectively. The switch 110 connects the control circuit to a powersupply, while switch 112 controls either manual or automatic operationof the paper tail cutter and is shown in the manual position.

The'manual operation of the control system will be described initially.Initially, none of the relays and none of the solenoid coils areenergized. Switch 1 10 is closed to supply electrical power to thetwo-position switch 112. The switch 112 supplies electrical power toswitches 114 and l 16 when placed in the manual position. The forwardswitch 114 is momentarily closed to energize solenoid coils 100a and102a and relay coil 141 to close relay contacts 141a, thus disengagingthe brake 140 and causing the carriage 30 to move, or jog in smallincrements along track 25 to obtain the desired position of the cutterknife 26 relative to the longitudinal edge of the paper strip 12 priorto initiating a cutting operation. The manual reverse switch 116 may bemomentarily depressed to energize solenoid coil 101a for actuatingsolenoid valve 101 and to energize relay coil 142 to close contacts 142ato disengage brake 140 to jog the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife26in the reverse direction along track 25. As can be seen from FIG. 5,the solenoid coil 103a cannot be energized when the switch 112 is in themanual position, thereby preventing the actuation of solenoid valve 103.Accordingly, the pneumatically operated piston and cylinder assembly 54cannot be actuated to raise the paper tail cutter 20 relative to theplane of travel of the paper strip 12.

I When the switch 112 is in the automatic position, switch 118, may bemomentarily depressed to supply electrical current to relay coil 119 toclose relay contacts 119a and 119b. The closing of contacts 119amaintains energization of the relay coil 119. Simultaneously, with theenergization of relay coil 119, solenoid coil 103a is energizedtooperate solenoid valve 103 to raise the paper tail cutter assembly 20.The first automatically actuated switch 130, mounted along the track 25and actuated by the knife carriage 30, as shown'in FIG. 2, is connectedin series with the relay coil 119 to de-energize the relay coil 119 andthe solenoid coil 103a when the cutter knife carriage 30 reaches thepre-set limit of its travel along track 25. The manual switch 121, alsoconnected in series with the relay coil 119 provides for emergencylowering of the cutter assembly 20. With switch 112 in the automaticposition electrical current is also supplied to manual switch 122,connected to relay coil 123 through the second set ofrelay contacts 11%of 'relay- 119. The energization of. the relay coil 123 by momentarydepression of the manual switch 122 closes the first set of relaycontacts 123a connected in parallel with the manual switch 122 tomaintain the energization of the relay coil 123, follow in genergization of the relay coil 1 19 by momentary depression" of themanual switch 118. The second set of relay" contacts [23b are alsoclosed to complete the electrical circuit to the solenoid coils 100a and102a for operating solenoid valves 100 and 102 to supply pneumaticpressure to piston and cylinder assembly 60 and release the hydraulicbrake to drive the knife carriage 30in the forward, or cuttingdirection, and simultaneously energize relay coil 141 to close contacts141a to disengage the brake 140.

The second automatically actuated limit switch 132 is connected inseries with the solenoid coils a and 102a and relay coil 14] and ismounted along the path of travel of the knife carriage 30 to be actuatedthereby when the carriage 30 reaches the pre-set limit of travel, asseen in H6. 2. The actuation of the second limit switch 132 by the knifecarriage 30 de-energizes the solenoid coils 100a and 1020 to stop theforward travel of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 and engagesthe mechanical brake 140.

The third automatically actuated limit switch 134 is positioned at thebottom limit of the path of vertical movement of the tail cutterassembly 20 and is connected in series with the-third set of normallyclosed relay contacts 1190 of relay 119, manual switch 136, and thesolenoid coil 1010 to actuate the three-way solenoid valve 101 forreturn of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 to their original,or start positions, when the tail cutter assembly 20 is lowered belowthe plane of the paper strip 12. The relay coil 142 is connected inparallel with the solenoid coil 101a to close the relay contacts 142awhen energized to disengage the brake duringthe return motion of theknife carriage 30.

The 'use of the electrically disengaged brake 141 is an optional featureof the present invention and may be used in addition to the hydraulicbraking action provided by the electrically operated two-solenoid valve102. Although shown only schematically in FIG. 5, the mechanical brake140 may be mounted on shaft 43 or 44 in housing 22 of the tail cutterassembly 20 and operatively connected with either of the sprockets 41 or42 for braking the rotation thereof when movement of the carriage 30 isdesired to be stopped,

A further optional feature which may be adapted to the subject inventionand controlled by the control circuit shown in FIG. 5 is a waterspraying system for applying water to the initial layers of paper woundonto spool 16 to reduce wrinkles in the first layers of paper. Althoughnot shown in the drawings, the water spray mechanism may be located inthe general vicinity of the spool 16 for application of water thereto atscribed time.

- As will be seen from FIG. 5, the solenoid a of a water control valveis connected to the source of power supply through the set of normallyclosed relay contacts 1230 on relay 123, manual switch 152 and a timedelay relay controlled switch 154 when the manual switch 1 12 is in theautomatic position. If desired, the time delay relay controlled contacts154 may be provided as a part of the cut relay 123.

Having described the structural details of the present invention, theoperation thereof will now be set forth in detail. As the continuousstrip of paper 12 exits from the paper machine 10, it passes under aguide roll 17 and is wrapped onto a spool 16. When the prescribed amountof paper is wound into the paper roll 14 on the spool 16, the paperstrip 12 must be severed, with a narrow strip remaining along one edgeof the paper strip 12 to initiate the wrapping of the paper stripcontinuing to exit from the paper machine 10 onto the next spindle. Thisnarrow strip of paper is referred to as a tail in the paper industry.When the cutting of the paper tail and the strip 12 is to be commencedby the paper tail cutter assembly 20, the cutter knife 26 and carriageare in the initial, or start position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The mainswitch 110 is switched to the On position the prepiston 64 andconnecting rod 67 in the forward direction, or to the left as seen inFIG. 3. Simultaneously, the

coil 102a of two-way solenoid valve 102 is energized to allow fluidcommunication between ports 76 and 75 of the second chamber 65 to enablethe piston 66 to move in the right-hand direction as seen in FIG. 4. Theoperation of the Forward jog switch 114 is intermittent and is used toposition the knife blade 26 approximately inches in from the side edgeof the paper strip 12 to cut the desired width of paper tail. The knifeholder 28 is pivotable on the knife carriage 30 to enable the cutterknife blade 26 to cut in both a longitudinal and a transverse directionof the paper strip 12.

When the knife carriage 30 is positioned in the proper location relativeto the side edge of the continuous paper strip 12, the operator thenswitches the twoposition switch 112 to the automatic position to supplyelectrical current to the vertical positioning switch 118 and the cutoperation initiating switch 122. At the prescribed moment, the operatormomentarily closes the normally open switch 118 to supply current to thecoil of the relay 119, which, in turn, closes contacts 119a to maintainenergization of the coil. The actuation of the switch 118 also energizesthe coil 103a of the threeway solenoid valve 103 to supply pneumaticpressure from line 90 to port 82 of the vertical height adjustingpneumatic piston and cylinder assembly 54 through conduit 83. Since port84 is open to the ambient atmosphere, the piston 58 of the piston andcylinder assembly 54 will be raised causing the piston rod 57 to raisethe housing 22 of the paper tail cutter assembly in a vertical directionon the parallelogram mounting linkage 31. This vertical motion causesthe cutter knife blade 26 to be driven through the paper, therebyinitiating the cutting of the narrow strip or paper tail.

When the tail is cut to the desired length, the operator thenmomentarily closes the cut start switch 122. Since switch 122 isconnected in series with contacts 11% on relay 119 which are closed bythe previous energization of the coil of the relay 119, electric currentis supplied to the coil of the cut relay 123. The energization of thecut relay 123 closes a first set of contacts 123a connected in parallelwith the switch 122 to maintain the supply of current to the relay 123.Simultaneously, a second set of contacts 123b are closed to en ergizethe coil 100a of the Forward three-way solenoid valve 100 to conveypneumatic pressure from the supply line 90 to Forward port 70 of theair-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 through conduit 86. At thesame time, the coil 102a of the two-way solenoid valve 102 is energizedto open communication between ports 76 and 75 to allow passage of theoil contained in chamber 65 therebetween. Accordingly, the pistons 64and 66 and connecting rod 67 will be moved to the left, as seen in FIG.3 at a rate depending upon the amount of opening of the manual valve 79.

The movement of the connecting rod 67 to the left in FIG. 3 causes thechain 50 to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction. The rotation ofthe sprocket 48 in a counter-clockwise direction, in turn, drives thelarger diameter sprocket 47 in a counter-clockwise direction and impartsa linear rate of travel to the chain 46 which is greater than the linearrate of travel of the chain 50. The chain.46 drivesthe smaller diametersprocket 45 in a counter-clockwise direction and, do to the operativeconnection between sprockets 45 and 41, the larger diameter sprocket 41is also driven in a counterclockwise direction, thereby imparting alinear rate of travel to the large chain 40 substantially greater thanthe linear rate of travel of either of the chains 46 or 50.

The movement of the sprocket 41 in the counterclockwise direction causesthe chain 40 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction as seen inFIG. 3, thereby moving the knife carriage 30 and the cutter blade 26 tothe left, or transverse to the path of movement of the paper strip 12 ata high rate of speed. The rate at which the cutter blade 26 travels isdetermined by the manual adjustment of the flow control valve 79.

When the knife carriage 30 has reached the left limit of its movement,as determined by the specific location of the limit switches 130 and132, depending upon the width of.the paper strip 12 to be cut, the limitswitches 130 and 132 are tripped to open the contacts thereof. As willbe seen from FIG. 5, the opening of limit switch 130 will de-energizethe relay coil 119 to open contacts 119a and 119b, and simultaneously,de-energize the coil 103a of the three-way solenoid valve 103 to shutoff the supply of pneumatic pressure from conduit 90 to conduit 83. Theconduit 83 will be exhausted to the ambient atmosphere through thethree-way valve 103, thereby causing the paper tail cutter assembly 20mm lowered from its cutting position due to the weight of the assemblyacting on the piston rod 57.

The opening of the second set of contacts 119!) on the Up relay 119 willshut off current to the coil of the Cut relay 132, thereby causing thetwo sets of contacts 123a and 123b to open. The opening of the contacts123a and l23b will interrupt the supply of current to the solenoid 100aof the Forward three-way solenoid valve 100, which will blockcommunication between the pneumatic line 90 and the port of the firstchamber 63 in the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 and willexhaust the port 70 and conduit 86 to the ambient atmosphere. The coil102a of the two-way solenoid valve 102 will also be de-energized tointerrupt hydraulic communication between ports 76 and of the secondchamber 65, thereby resulting in the braking of the movement of thepiston 66 contained therein and, accordingly, the movement of piston rod67 to brake the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26.

Since the second stroke limit switch 132 is positioned along the path ofmovement of the cutter carriage 30, the opening of the contacts of thelimit switch 132 can also serve to tie-energize the solenoid coils a and102a of solenoid valves 100 and 102. Therefore, by positioning the limitswitches and 132 in such a position that the cutter carriage 30 willcontact the stroke limit switch 132 before the limit switch 130, themotion of the knife carriage 30 and cutter knife 26 will be stoppedprior to the opening of the contacts of the first stop limit switch 130.By positioning the limit switches 130 and 132 in this manner, the papertail cutter assembly 20 will be maintained in its uppermost verticalposition until the operator manually depresses the normally closedswitch 121 to de-energize the coil of the Up relay 119.

assembly 20 is lowered to the predetermined verticalposition foractuation of the normally open automatic limit switch 134, the contactsof the switch 134 are closed to apply electric current to the normallyclosed third-set of contacts 1190 of the 'Up relay 119. Since currentsupplied to the energizing coil of the Up relay 119 has beeninterrupted, either by the opening of the contacts of the first limitswitch 30 by contact with the cutter carriage 30 or by the manualopening of the normally closed switch 121 by the operator, the third setof contacts 119c return to their normally closed position to allowelectric current to flow through switch 136 when it is positioned in theautomatic Return position as shown in FIG. 5, to energize the solenoidcoil 101a of the three-way carriage return solenoid'valve 101.

Energization of the coil 101a of solenoid valve 101 communicatespneumatic pressure from line 90 to the return port 71 of the firstchamber 63 of the air-over-oil piston and cylinder assembly 60 throughconduit 87 to move piston 64 in the left-hand direction, as seen in FIG.4, or to the right, as seen in FIG. 3. The speed at which the piston andconnecting rod 67 moves due tothe. application of pneumatic pressure toport 71 is controlled by the adjustment of manual adjusting valve 80connected in the second passage of the passage means 72 between theports 75 and 76 of the oil filled second chamber 65.

Return flow through they first manual valve 79 is blocked by the firstone-way valve 77, with fluid passage from port 75 to port 76 through thesecond manual valve 80 being allowed by the second one-way valve 78, asseen in FIG. 4. By adjusting the second manual valve 80 to regulate theflow of hydraulic fluid from port 75 to port 76, the speed at which theknife carriage 30 and cutter blade 26 returns to its initial position isgreatly reduced. If desired, a further manually adjustable valve :104maybe inserted inpneumatic conduit 87 between the pneumatic pressuresupply line 90 and the three-way solenoid valve 101 to restrict the flowof pneumatic pressure therethrough to control the return speed ofcarriage 30.

i As described previously, the disengagement of the brake 140 will occurwhenever the coils 100a 101a of the Forward or Return solenoid valves100 or 101 are energized, since the coils of the two brake disengagingrelays 141 and 142 are connected in parallel with the solenoid coils 100a and 101a, respectively, for closing normally open contacts 141a and142a, respectively.

The operation of the optional water spray system will now bedescribedwith reference to FIG. 5. When the with a set of normally closedcontacts 1230, which are maintained in their open position while thecoil 123 is energized. Each of the sets of contacts 154 and 123C, aswell as the manual switch 152, are connected in series with theenergizing coil 150a of a water supply solenoid valve (not shown).

Immediately upon the completion of the cutting movement of the cutterblade 26 across the width of the paper strip 12, an operator will wrapthe narrow paper tail onto a new spool 16. Simultaneously, the normallyclosed contacts 1230 will be closed due to the de-energization of therelay 123 coil in response to the opening of the contacts of limitswitch with the contacts 154 being maintained in their closed positionfor a predetermined short period of time of approximately 3 seconds, bythe time delay relay operatively connected therewith, thus completingthe electric circuit to the coil of the water solenoid valve 150.

Energization of the coil a of the water solenoid valve will cause waterto be supplied to a spray device for spraying water onto the paper beingwound on the new spool 16, which will cause the wrinkles in the firstfew layers of paper to be eliminated. Since the time delay relaymaintains the contacts 154 closed for a very short periodof time, thetimingout of this relay will open the contacts 154 to interrupt thewater supply to the spray device. 3

Although the present invention has been described with regard to thepreferred embodiment thereof using the automatic operation provided bythe control system, the above-described cutting operation performed bythe cutting device of the subject invention may also be carried out bymanually operating the various switches, if so desired. However, the useof the automatic control system greatly reduces the time and effortinvolved in operating the subject device.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic strip cutter apparatus comprising, an elongated housingadapted for mounting transversely relative to a path of movement of acontinuous moving strip of sheet material to be cut, a guide trackprovided on said housing, a cutter knife carriage mounted for movementalong said track, said carriage having a cutting knifeoperatively'attached thereto, fluid pressure actuated drive means formoving said carriage along said track and stopping said movement,mounting means for movably supporting said elongated housing for'movement toward and away from said continuous strip, fluid pressureactuated support means for adjusting the position of said housing, saidtrack and said cutter knife toward and away from said strip, and acontrol means for energizing and de-energizing said support means andsaid drive means in a predetermined order for operating said cutterapparatus.

2. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising acutter knife holder pivotably mounted on said knife carriage, saidcutter knife being attached to said knife holder, whereby said cutterknife is free to pivot and cut in a plurality of directions, dependingon the direction of force being applied against the cutter knife.

3. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprisingwater spray means operatively connected to said control means andadapted to spray water onto material being wound onto rolls, saidcontrol means including a time delay energizing means, said controlmeans actuating said water spray means at the end of a cutting operationof said knife of said tail cutter, said time delay energizing meansmaintaining operation of said water spray means for a pre-selected timeperiod following the end of the cutting operation and de-activating saidwater spray at the end of said pre-selected time period.

4. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mountingmeans comprises a first and a second support bracket attached to a papermachine in spaced-apart relationship to each other, said housing beingmovably attached to said support brackets by two equal length parallelsupporting links connected at each end of said housing, said parallelsupporting links and each of said support brackets and said housingforming a parallelogram'linkage for maintaining said housing in avertical position during vertical movement of said housing.

5. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 4, further comprising afirst and a second horizontal bar positioned parallel to each other andhaving their ends pivotably supported by said support brackets, each ofsaid two equal length parallel supporting links at each end of saidhousing having one end rigidly attached to one of said first and secondhorizontal bars adjacent said support brackets.

6. An automatic strip cutter in accordance with claim 1 in which thedrive means and the support means are cylinder means connected to asource of fluid pressure through electrically controlled valve which areselectively operated by said control means.

7. An automatic paper tail cutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein saidelectrically controlled valves comprise a first and a second solenoidoperated control valve connected in a fluid passage means between afluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuated drivemeans, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operativelyconnected to said control means, said first solenoid operated valveadapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drivemeans to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said secondsolenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluidpressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the startposition, and a third. solenoid operated valve connected in said passagemeans between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressureactuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means toselectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals fromsaid control system.

8. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 7, wherein said controlmeans includes a first and second sensing means for sensing the positionof said knife carriage, said first sensing means causing said firstsolenoid operated valve to be de-energized when said knife carriagereaches a predetermined position of travel along said guide track, saidsecond sensing means causing said third solenoid operated valve means tobe deenergized to lower said housing from its upraised verticalposition, and athird sensing means located along the path of verticaltravel of said housing to sense the pre-set lowermost vertical positionof said housing, said third sensing means being operatively connected tosaid third solenoid operated valve and adapted to energize said secondsolenoid operated valve to return said knife carriage to the initialstarting position when said housing reaches its pre-set lowermostvertical position.

9. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising achain drive means contained within said housing, said chain drive meansbeing operatively connected between said fluid pressure drive means andsaid cutter blade carriage.

10. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said chaindrive means comprises a first and a second sprocket wheel rotatablysupported within said housing adjacent each end thereof, a first chainpassing around each of said first and second sprockets, said first chainbeing drivingly connected to said carriage, a third sprocket rotatablysupported in said housing coaxially with said first sprocket anddrivingly connected thereto, said third sprocket having a smallerdiameter than said first sprocket, a fourth sprocket rotatably supportedwithin said housing between said first and second sprockets, said fourthsprocket having a diameter greater than the diameter of said thirdsprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said third andfourth sprockets, a fifth sprocket rotatably supported in said housingcoaxially with said fourth sprocket and drivingly connected thereto,said fifth sprocket having a diameter smaller than said fourth sprocket,a sixth sprocket rotatably supported in said housing between said fourthand fifth sprockets and said second sprocket, an endless chain drivinglyconnected around said fifth and sixth sprockets, said fluid pressureactuated drive means being operatively connected to said endless chainconnected around said fifth and sixth sprockets to drive said cutterblade carriage at a predetermined rate along said guide track, said rateof travel of said carriage being determined by the ratios of thediameters of thesprockets and the rate of said fluid pressure actuateddrive means. i

11. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9 further comprising anelectrically disengaged brake means operatively connected to said knifecarriage and to said control means, said electrically disengaged brakemeans being selectively supplied with electrical current by said controlmeans to disengage said brake means during movement of said knifecarriage along said guide track and to de-energize said brake means tostop movement of said knife carriage. v

12. An automatic tailcutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said fluidpressure actuated drive means comprises an air-over-oil piston andcylinder assembly, said assembly having a cylinder divided into a firstand a second chamber, a first and a second piston slidably contained ineach first and second chambers, respectively, said first and secondpistons being attached to a piston rod, the end of said piston rodextending out of said cylinder being operatively connectedto said knifecarriage, said first chamber being operatively connected to said fluidpressure supply source through said conduit means and one of saidelectrically controlled solenoid valves, said second chamber having afluid passage port located at each end thereof, a conduit meansconnected between said ports at each end of said second chamber, amanually adjustable flow control means and a check valve means connectedin said conduit means between said ports, said second chamber beingfilled with a viscous fluid, said fluid control means being adjustableto control the rate of movement of said first and second pistons andsaid piston rod in response to fluid pressure supplied to said firstchamber through said conduit means.

13. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 12, wherein saidconduit means connected between the ports of said second chambercomprises two passages,

said manually adjustable valve means includes a flow control valveconnected in each 'of said passages, and said check valve meanscomprises a one-way check valve connected in each of said passages, eachone-way check valve blocking fluid flow in a direction opposite theother, and an electrically actuated solenoid valve connected in thepassage allowing fluid flow when the piston rod is being extended fromsaid housing, said solenoid valve being operatively connected to saidcontrol means and energized thereby to open said valve and allow flowtherethrough when said piston rod is being operatively extended fromsaid cylinder by application of fluid pressure to said first chamber andblocking said flow when de-energized to act as a hydraulic brake forsaid piston rod. 14. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 13wherein said electrically controlled valves comprises a first and asecond solenoid operated control valve connected in said passage meansbetween said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressureactuated drive means, said first and second solenoid operated valvesbeing operatively connected to said control system; said first solenoidoperated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressureactuated drive means to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction,said second solenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure tosaid fluid pressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriageto the start position, and a third solenoid operated valve connected insaid passage means between said fluid pressure supply source and saidfluid pressure actuated support means which includes piston and cylindermeans to selectively raise and lower said housing in response to signalsfromsaid control system.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CI lJR'lIFI(IA'IE OF CORIHCC'IION Patent No.3,805 ,652 Dated April 23 1974 Inventor) Earl E. LaLonde and Gerald D.Bartel It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patentand that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2 line 64, "use" should be -usedand "outing" should be --cutting;

Column'l0, lin.e 11, before "rotate" insert --also-;

Column 10, line 37, "132" should be --123--;

Column 13, claim 6, line 29, "valve" should be -valves--;

Column l4, claim 12, line 64, "said fluid" should be -said flow--.

Signed and sealed this 17th day of September 1974,

(SEAL) Attest:

MCCOY M. GIBSON JR. C. MARSlIALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner ofPatents ORM FO-lOSO (10-69) USCOMM-OC 60376-0" I u S sovznnnznr vnmnucOFFICE we) o-1s6-1

1. An automatic strip cutter apparatus comprising, an elongated housingadapted for mounting transversely relative to a path of movement of acontinuous moving strip of sheet material to be cut, a guide trackprovided on said housing, a cutter knife carriage mounted for movementalong said track, said carriage having a cutting knife operativelyattached thereto, fluid pressure actuated drive means for moving saidcarriage along said track and stopping said movement, mounting means formovably supporting said elongated housing for movement toward and awayfrom said continuous strip, fluid pressure actuated support means foradjusting the position of said housing, said track and said cutter knifetoward and away from said strip, and a control means for energizing andde-energizing said support means and said drive means in a predeterminedorder for operating said cutter apparatus.
 2. An automatic tail cutteras claimed in claim 1, further comprising a cutter knife holderpivotably mounted on said knife carriage, said cutter knife beingattached to said knife holder, whereby said cutter knife is free topivot and cut in a plurality of directions, depending on the directionof force being applied against the cutter knife.
 3. An automatic tailcutter as claimed in claim 1, further comprising water spray meansoperatively connected to said control means and adapted to spray wateronto material being wound onto rolls, said control means including atime delay energizing means, said control means actuating said waterspray means aT the end of a cutting operation of said knife of said tailcutter, said time delay energizing means maintaining operation of saidwater spray means for a pre-selected time period following the end ofthe cutting operation and de-activating said water spray at the end ofsaid pre-selected time period.
 4. An automatic tail cutter as claimed inclaim 1, wherein said mounting means comprises a first and a secondsupport bracket attached to a paper machine in spaced-apart relationshipto each other, said housing being movably attached to said supportbrackets by two equal length parallel supporting links connected at eachend of said housing, said parallel supporting links and each of saidsupport brackets and said housing forming a parallelogram linkage formaintaining said housing in a vertical position during vertical movementof said housing.
 5. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 4,further comprising a first and a second horizontal bar positionedparallel to each other and having their ends pivotably supported by saidsupport brackets, each of said two equal length parallel supportinglinks at each end of said housing having one end rigidly attached to oneof said first and second horizontal bars adjacent said support brackets.6. An automatic strip cutter in accordance with claim 1 in which thedrive means and the support means are cylinder means connected to asource of fluid pressure through electrically controlled valve which areselectively operated by said control means.
 7. An automatic paper tailcutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said electrically controlledvalves comprise a first and a second solenoid operated control valveconnected in a fluid passage means between a fluid pressure supplysource and said fluid pressure actuated drive means, said first andsecond solenoid operated valves being operatively connected to saidcontrol means, said first solenoid operated valve adapted to supplyfluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drive means to move saidknife carriage in a cutting direction, said second solenoid operatedvalve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuateddrive means to return said knife carriage to the start position, and athird solenoid operated valve connected in said passage means betweensaid fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressure actuatedsupport means which includes piston and cylinder means to selectivelyraise and lower said housing in response to signals from said controlsystem.
 8. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 7, wherein saidcontrol means includes a first and second sensing means for sensing theposition of said knife carriage, said first sensing means causing saidfirst solenoid operated valve to be de-energized when said knifecarriage reaches a predetermined position of travel along said guidetrack, said second sensing means causing said third solenoid operatedvalve means to be de-energized to lower said housing from its upraisedvertical position, and a third sensing means located along the path ofvertical travel of said housing to sense the pre-set lowermost verticalposition of said housing, said third sensing means being operativelyconnected to said third solenoid operated valve and adapted to energizesaid second solenoid operated valve to return said knife carriage to theinitial starting position when said housing reaches its pre-setlowermost vertical position.
 9. An automatic tail cutter as claimed inclaim 1, further comprising a chain drive means contained within saidhousing, said chain drive means being operatively connected between saidfluid pressure drive means and said cutter blade carriage.
 10. Anautomatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9, wherein said chain drivemeans comprises a first and a second sprocket wheel rotatably supportedwithin said housing adjacent each end thereof, a first chain passingaround each of said first and second sprockets, said first chain beingdrivingly connected to said carriage, a third sprocket Rotatablysupported in said housing coaxially with said first sprocket anddrivingly connected thereto, said third sprocket having a smallerdiameter than said first sprocket, a fourth sprocket rotatably supportedwithin said housing between said first and second sprockets, said fourthsprocket having a diameter greater than the diameter of said thirdsprocket, an endless chain drivingly connected around said third andfourth sprockets, a fifth sproket rotatably supported in said housingcoaxially with said fourth sprocket and drivingly connected thereto,said fifth sprocket having a diameter smaller than said fourth sprocket,a sixth sprocket rotatably supported in said housing between said fourthand fifth sprockets and said second sprocket, an endless chain drivinglyconnected around said fifth and sixth sprockets, said fluid pressureactuated drive means being operatively connected to said endless chainconnected around said fifth and sixth sprockets to drive said cutterblade carriage at a predetermined rate along said guide track, said rateof travel of said carriage being determined by the ratios of thediameters of the sprockets and the rate of said fluid pressure actuateddrive means.
 11. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 9 furthercomprising an electrically disengaged brake means operatively connectedto said knife carriage and to said control means, said electricallydisengaged brake means being selectively supplied with electricalcurrent by said control means to disengage said brake means duringmovement of said knife carriage along said guide track and tode-energize said brake means to stop movement of said knife carriage.12. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 6, wherein said fluidpressure actuated drive means comprises an air-over-oil piston andcylinder assembly, said assembly having a cylinder divided into a firstand a second chamber, a first and a second piston slidably contained ineach first and second chambers, respectively, said first and secondpistons being attached to a piston rod, the end of said piston rodextending out of said cylinder being operatively connected to said knifecarriage, said first chamber being operatively connected to said fluidpressure supply source through said conduit means and one of saidelectrically controlled solenoid valves, said second chamber having afluid passage port located at each end thereof, a conduit meansconnected between said ports at each end of said second chamber, amanually adjustable flow control means and a check valve means connectedin said conduit means between said ports, said second chamber beingfilled with a viscous fluid, said fluid control means being adjustableto control the rate of movement of said first and second pistons andsaid piston rod in response to fluid pressure supplied to said firstchamber through said conduit means.
 13. An automatic tail cutter asclaimed in claim 12, wherein said conduit means connected between theports of said second chamber comprises two passages, said manuallyadjustable valve means includes a flow control valve connected in eachof said passages, and said check valve means comprises a one-way checkvalve connected in each of said passages, each one-way check valveblocking fluid flow in a direction opposite the other, and anelectrically actuated solenoid valve connected in the passage allowingfluid flow when the piston rod is being extended from said housing, saidsolenoid valve being operatively connected to said control means andenergized thereby to open said valve and allow flow therethrough whensaid piston rod is being operatively extended from said cylinder byapplication of fluid pressure to said first chamber and blocking saidflow when de-energized to act as a hydraulic brake for said piston rod.14. An automatic tail cutter as claimed in claim 13 wherein saidelectrically controlled valves comprises a first and a second solenoidoperated control valve connected in said passage means between saidfluid pressure sUpply source and said fluid pressure actuated drivemeans, said first and second solenoid operated valves being operativelyconnected to said control system, said first solenoid operated valveadapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluid pressure actuated drivemeans to move said knife carriage in a cutting direction, said secondsolenoid operated valve adapted to supply fluid pressure to said fluidpressure actuated drive means to return said knife carriage to the startposition, and a third solenoid operated valve connected in said passagemeans between said fluid pressure supply source and said fluid pressureactuated support means which includes piston and cylinder means toselectively raise and lower said housing in response to signals fromsaid control system.